Concrete Angel
by Nico733
Summary: After meeting his idol and receiving his power Izuku becomes a great hero...But what if his second encounter with the sludge villain never occurred? What if he couldn't prove himself? What if he gave into his own despair? (Basically, depressed Izuku meets an All Might who doesn't believe in him. Izuku doesn't become a hero and All Might is left without a successor.)
1. Chapter 1 - Shattered Dreams

Despite what people may tell you, "all men are created equal" couldn't be further from the bitter and dark truth, and Izuku Midoriya aged 4 was just beginning to see it, the truth that was always there. Just in front of his shining, lively emerald eyes.

Some people were born with everything they could ever want... Izuku wasn't that lucky.

"He doesn't have one." the Doctor deadpanned as Izuku flinched

 **"He's quirkless."**

Izuku could pinpoint the exact second his heart shattered, a jigsaw inside of him, his only desire ripped from him mercilessly.

His only wish, to be a hero, to save people with a smile on his face, a hero like All Might!

 **That's nothing but a dream now.**

 _ **A shattered dream.**_

He needed something, someone to reassure him, to keep him in one piece, and he hoped his mom would say the words he needed to hear most: "You can be a hero!".

 **"I'm so sorry Izuku, I wish it wasn't like this!"** his mom barely managed through her own matching stream of tears...

If his 4-year-old heart was a jigsaw before, **it's dust now.**

School wasn't any better... Not with Kacchan as he is after awakening that **stupid** quirk, it took his best friend, and changed him, of course, Izuku still stuck with him [he's too kind for his own good after all] but that didn't mean he was completely fine with this egotistical bully version of Kacchan.

 **"You're just a useless, quirkless Deku!"**

Yup, he definitely doesn't like this Kacchan, especially when he uses his quirk on him. His little 4-year-old body has been bruised and burnt more times than he's been able to count...

 **It didn't stop there...**

It continued into middle school, Kacchan stopped being as physical, but at this point the words cut deeper anyway... (Izuku wasn't sure whether he stopped because he was actually a good person, or he just didn't want it on his record) [He believed the former, against all odds, and all the pain life had put him through already, he still saw the best in people.]

At this point, life was a drag, dragging himself out of bed was near impossible, if anything school was also more of a reason against getting out of bed, the thought of going through the same name calling and bullying was painful, to say the least, and forcing an empty smile all day wasn't easy.

With a heavy heart he began to change into his school's simple black uniform _if it were any lighter colour you might have seen some charring, Kacchan mellowed out a little, but he was still far from being an angel._

As he walked out of his bedroom he put on his usual smile (its not real anymore, though) trying to replace the twinkle in his eyes that has long since been lost so his Mom doesn't realise, ' _she deserves better'_ he thought ' _a better son, one who isn't useless and pathetic, she worries enough as it is_.'

"Morning Mom!" Izuku said, donning his chipper facade

"Morning dear, breakfast will be ready in a second." Inko replies with matching happiness [although hers is a lot more genuine than Izuku's]

"Oh, I'm not that hungry Mom, I'll just take something to have on the way to school" Izuku said with a small smile ' _The effort is wasted on me Mom, I'm fine going hungry anyway'_

"Oh, alright Izuku" Inko doesn't suspect a single thing Izuku hides it too well.

The light in his eyes long since flickered out, his smile, its small because he can't manage anything beyond that and the various different shaped scars Kacchan had caused him throughout his life covered up and out of sight... She can't suspect a thing. She can't see how much her son is suffering, _'it's better if she doesn't know... She'd be broken if she did, and that'd be your fault Deku!'_ he thinks to himself, habitually.

"Alright, thanks Mom!" Izuku says as he grabs something to eat on the way and makes his way toward the front door "Cya later, love you!"

"Love you too sweetie, have fun at school." Inko replied Izuku winced internally at those words _'It's been a really long time since I've had fun at school Mom'_ he thought as his eyes returned to their extinguished, almost dead state and his smile faded completely.

Izuku's school day was uneventful (a few insults originating from Kacchan, but other than that nothing special), his trek home, however, was about to get much more interesting whether he wants it or not.

Izuku feels the rumbling below as he enters the underpass ' _Huh? What's that rumbl-'_ his train of thought is disrupted by the clang of metal on concrete and an unnatural, goopy voice "Medium sized skinsuit" it gurgles(?) "hope you don't mind me borrowing it!" suddenly Izuku is being choked by the villain _'He's going to kill me!'_ Izuku thrashes around to no avail, the sludge holding him deep within."Stop thrashing around! It'll only take 45 seconds, then it'll all be over!" the monster gurgles again.

 _ **He's suffocating...**_

 _'This is it'_ Izuku stops thrashing and focuses on remaining conscious _'This is how I die. I'm sorry mom'_ he starts to tear up.

Suddenly, Izuku sees a bright light ' _So this is what they call the light at the end of the tunnel heh, guess I'm really dead'_. The next instant the sludge is blasted off of him, when Izuku turns around to see who or what did it, he sees All Might, the current number one hero and symbol of peace, Izuku's idol from childhood.

"A-A-All Might!" Izuku picks himself up "Thank you for saving me, I'm your biggest fan, you're my idol!" he says in one breath while bowing deeply to which All Might just replies with bellowing laughter

"It's alright Young man, I apologise for getting you caught up in my villain hunting." as he says this he joins Izuku in bowing deeply "Right, I should be going, this evildoer needs to be turned into the police."

 _'He's leaving, hold on, this is my chance, my only chance.'_

"Wait please, All Might, can I ask you a single question?" Izuku exclaims in desperation

"You already have my Boy, but by all means, ask away!" All Might says

' _All right, now or never, all or nothing!'_

"C-Can I be a hero, even without a quirk!" Izuku finally forces the words out.


	2. Chapter 2 - Tattered Wings

"Without a quirk?" All Might repeats the words "How admirable of you to wish to be a hero even in your circumstance, however, if I'm being honest

 **there's no chance for you to become a hero without a quirk**

not only that, but it would be stupidly dangerous, so no, I believe you can't be a hero without a quirk" at these words Izuku's tiny scarred, stone heart falls apart completely "That doesn't mean you can't help others though! Young man, you could become a doctor or police officer and help that way, anyway, I have to go, villains don't turn themselves in after all!" All Might says as he crouches, preparing to fly away "THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!" and just like that he's gone with the bottles and whatever was left of Izuku's heart...

Deep down he already knew that he couldn't be a hero, but he kept hoping because who'd want their only dream shattered?

Izuku walks home dejectedly, every step feels heavier than the last, more difficult than the last, none of this shows on his face despite how broken he feels, all he wants is to curl up somewhere and cry until he dries up, but he won't, he can't, Mom would be worried and if he did so in the middle of the city people would approach him, and people is something he _definitely_ can't handle right now.

He gets home shortly after, he mimics happiness and cheerfulness perfectly, his Mom is just as oblivious as she'll always be, just as oblivious as everyone will always be, no one will know _'No one would care, no one should care'_ Izuku thinks.

"I'm really tired Mom." Izuku says happily with a fake, subtle smile "I'm going to go to bed early, no need to make me dinner."

"Okay sweetie, goodnight." Mom responds with a smile (unlike his it's completely genuine)

When Izuku gets to his room he doesn't even change or do anything, he heads straight for his bed and curls up under the covers sobbing quietly as the darkness dawns over him, that night the darkness extends to his dreams too. Silhouettes surround him

 **You're just a quirkless, useless Deku!**

 **He's quirkless.**

 **If you want a quirk so bad, take a nosedive off the school roof and hope for one in your next life!**

Then one of the silhouettes comes into focus... Its All Might...

 _No, p-please, anything but this._

 _ **There's no chance for you to become a hero.**_

Izuku wakes up exhausted and drained, not just physically either. This is the worst he's ever felt, and he's been bullied everyday of his life since turning 4, so that's saying something, it's the last day of the school week, so maybe he can handle it...

In retrospect, he realises that was a foolish thought.

Walking to school is harder than ever before, and the school day is worse than before too, although that may be due to recent...events.

"You've all got to fill in the career forms!" Izuku barely heard the teacher through the static buzzing in his head "But that's kinda pointless, I already know you all want to be heroes!"

"Don't group me in with these extras, teach!" Bakugou shouts, the class is clearly not happy being called 'extras' but Izuku knows if anyone has a chance of becoming a hero it's Bakugou.

"Oh, right,you're trying to go into U.A aren't you Bakugou?" ' _here it comes...'_ Izuku thinks.

"I'm not _'trying'_ teach I'm getting in, I'll be the only one to go to U.A from this shitty school" Bakugou snarls.

"Midoriya-" Izuku physically jumps as the teacher says his name ' _this is it...Bakugou's going to kill me...'_ "-is applying to U.A's heroics course too."

 _ **The class bursts into laughter...**_

Laughter which is only disrupted by a loud bang as Bakugou slams his hand (quirk and all) on Izuku's desk "You want to go to U.A Deku?" Bakugou effectively screams at Izuku " _You_ Deku?

 **you're below all the extras, you're quirkless.** "

something within Izuku _**snaps**_ as he fights to hold back his tears [he would never cry openly... Something is **wrong** with Izuku] Bakugou turns around from Izuku's quivering form.

 **"Coward."** Bakugou mumbles, but Izuku can hear it. Izuku can feel Bakugou's anger and distaste for him like it's a tangible entity... And it **hurts** , the hatred his ex-childhood friend has toward him is so **agonising**. But it cements one thing in Izuku's mind... He's _**alone**_ , completely, utterly _**alone**_... And he decides to take Kacchan's advice, the Silhouette Kacchan's advice...

His footsteps echo, his spirit is heavy, and he's exhausted with everything.

He takes his time climbing the stairs and steels his resolve _'This is the right choice, they'll be better off without me...I'll be forgotten soon anyways, I'm not worth worrying over, they'll realise that'_

After the stream of (unfounded) self-hatred, he leans backwards (he decided it'd be best not to look at the ground as he fell) and he's gone in seconds.

Falling faster and faster, _past the third floor._

 _'This is it... I'm sorry Mom, you deserved better than me.'_

 **Past the second floor.**

 _'Don't you worry Kacchan, I'm not getting into U.A, you were right I wouldn't have made it anyway.'_

 _ **Past the first floor.**_

 _ **'Goodbye everyone'**_ a tear slips from his eye as he hits the ground with a deafening crunch and a reverberating splat.

 **Bakugou's POV**

 _'What the fuck was that sou-'_ Katsuki's thought process is stopped abruptly by what he sees when he turns the corner

 **Deku.**

 **Limp.**

 **Broken.**

 **Twisted.**

 _ **A puddle of his own blood forms beneath him.**_

 _'Nonononono. T-This isn't what I wanted, no, this can't be real'_ he thought _'I didn't actually want him to jump. This can't be real, I'm not here, this has to be a nightmare.'_

Bakugou runs, faster than ever before, he runs into several people but ignores them, tears are flowing down his cheeks furiously.

 _'Nurse, where's the nurse? She's got a healing quirk, she's his only chance!'_ Bakugou thought as he rounded the corner into the nurse's office "Oh!" It seems he startled the (unusually) young woman "Bakugou! You startled me, what do you need, another fig-" it seems she noticed the tears before Bakugou did.

 _ **"De-Izuku! He, he jumped."**_ his shaky voice is uncharacteristic, it's usually Izuku who cries, but not this time... The nurse's eyes explode with horror, after a quick "Lead me there" they take off, even faster this time, they round the corners at seemingly impossible speeds

 _'We won't be quick enough,_

 _I wasn't quick enough,_

 _He's already_ _ **gone**_ _,_

 _this is my fault,_

 _ **my fault,**_

 _ **my fault.'**_

his thoughts echo as they run, and when they get to where Izuku's body (corpse? Unconscious form?) was, but they find nothing but a puddle of Izuku's blood, and it's not a small one either

"H-He was right here, I saw him, where is he?" Bakugou says in a half shout, half cry, he's panicking, _'He won't survive without medical attention, but he's gone!'_

"Bakugou, he's gone, there isn't anything we can do if he isn't here, we should report it to the police." she says as she puts a hand on Bakugou's shoulder, the boy is crouched next to the puddle... That's when he notices something inside it, a small metal locket Izuku always kept on his person, a gift from his Mom, some old hero's emblem. He fishes it out of the blood and opens it.

A picture of Inko Midoriya and a separate one of Katsuki are inside, the words "True Hero" are written on both...

Bakugou's voice is raspy as his body is wracked with uncontrollable, unstoppable sobs, the school nurse pulls him into a hug hoping to comfort him at least a little, to no avail...

 _ **This is**_ _ **my**_ _ **fault**_

 _he's gone and it's_ _ **my**_ _ **fault**_

 _ **I'm so sorry Izuku...**_


	3. Chapter 3 - Guilt-ridden Resolve

Author's note:

Thank you for giving my fic a try, sorry for any mishaps or bad writing on my part this is my first fic so I can't guarantee anything, I just hope you enjoy reading it at least a little bit.

Also, I'm planning to change things up quite a lot from canon, so I'll hopefully make it believable and enjoyable, on that note I hope you enjoy reading this chapter :3.

* * *

Bakugou stands shakily before an apartment door, crushed by guilt, _'It's_ _ **my fault**_ _her son is_ _ **dead**_ _, she should hate me.'_

 _'I still have to give his locket back though not to mention I have to tell her what I did, why it's_ _ **my fault**_ _.'_

And so he knocks, after a few minutes of silence Inko comes out, dried tear marks obviously visible on her face, her eyes puffy and red.

'Of course they are you **idiot** , her son is fucking **dead.** '

 _And it's_ _ **your**_ _fault._

 _ **Your fault**_

 _ **Your fault**_

 _ **Y̶͍̝̾̆̉͋̀̂̽̚ Õ̷̝͍̯̭̲̘͍̝͒̀͋̚͝ U̴͍͓͂͗̆̆͛̾ R̴͇̹̣̜̃̈́̿͊̽̑͐̈͘ ̷̘̀͋́̕ F̴̲̺̤̠̩͔̱̺͕̐́͑̚ A̵͙͈̜̭̲̻̺̬̾ U̷̹͔̰̮̘̠̓̀͒ͅ L̷̩͍̙͛͐ T̷̺͈̥͔̒̃͊͐̇̊̕**_

 _ **"Bakugou?"**_

Her sharp voice cuts through the self-loathing static in Bakugou's head but doesn't stop it, _**nothing ever will.**_

"Are you okay?"

"Auntie...I-" the tears threaten to spill _'Damnit! I can't even say it without crying'_

 _ **"I'm sorry."**_

"Bakugou..." she says with a pained sigh "I-It is **not** your fault."

With the number of tears that sends down his face, you'd be surprised Bakugou doesn't have a water-based quirk.

"I-It is my fault...I-I-" it's tough for Bakugou to talk through all the tears but he has no choice, he isn't here for forgiveness **(he's not going to get it after what he's done)** he's here to confess his sins to Inko.

 **"I told him to jump"**

 **"I didn't actually mean it but I still said it..."**

 **"Izuku is** _ **d͚̗̱̻̯̭̱̰̟̥̖̺̳̻̪̠͓̈͋ͥ̽ͭ͊̏̊̀͜͟͞ḛ̛̝͎̥̣͙̙̤̭̪̳̄ͬͮ̍̆ͅa͖͉̟͙̮̞̩̟̫̻̖̿͋ͬͣ̾ͮͥ̓̾̃̓͢͠d̵̨ͨͥ̄̆́͏̼̬̘̞̜͈̤̩͠**_ **."**

 **"And it's all** _ **my**_ **fault**

 **"I shattered his dreams, I clipped his wings, I sent him off the edge and it's all on me."**

 **Me? A hero? That's just fucking hilarious, what kind of sick hero am I if I sent my childhood friend off a f̴͔͕͖̞͇ú̷͏͔̣̹̩̥̠ͅͅć̷҉̰̺͚͈k̵̵̫͇̫͉̺̬í͍̞̩͟ͅn̛̰̙͔̮g̯̻̪̖͝ ͏̦̺͎̯͉͎͙͈r͔͢o̶̫̝͚̱͇̰̪o̧̼̫͙̺f̟̘̭̗,**

 **hell, I don't deserve to become a hero after all I've done to Izu-"**

Bakugou's self-loathing rant is cut short with a reverberating slap.

"Bakugou...Please, stop it...Y-You did the wrong thing, but it's not all on you...Izuku's suicide is just as much your fault as it is mine...I lived under the same roof as him, but I still failed to see how badly my baby was suffering" (Needless to say at this point Inko was crying once more.)

"I just...I can't believe he's really gone...My baby...H-He was smiling as he left for school today, h-he was still with us just this morning, and now...He's **gone**...and...and..."

 **"I'll never see him again"**

"Not to m-mention the w-worst thing...I can't even give my son a proper burial...H-How could his body even just disappear like that?"

"The police have no idea, Auntie, b-but...I-I-" _'Come on! Just fucking say it you_ _ **coward**_ _, you're the reason he jumped in the first place, so just fucking say it!'_ "I saw him, he was **broken** and **twisted** , I-I'm sure he was **dead** on impact..."

"No one knows what happened to his body, b-but I'm the one who found him, and I-I doubt he was alive."

That's when Inko wipes away her tears and pulls him into a hug "Thank you Katsuki, for telling me all this, y-you must be traumatised by it." (try as she might she can't keep all of the shakiness out of her voice).

"It's the least I could do auntie, you're free to call me or come over to our house whenever you need to talk about I-Izuku and this whole fucked up situation." _'I can't even say his name without remembering that fucking image...'_

 _ **School, The next day, Bakugou's POV continued**_

 _'What even is the point of this shitty memorial service...It's not like anyone in this god damn school even cared about Izuku, this shit pisses me off.'_

The teacher can be heard making some very generic statements about Izuku, the only reason they're this generic is that no-one really bothered to get to know Izuku, not even the person he considered his friend despite all that he has done to him.

The person in question is getting progressively more furious as the memorial service continues, halfway through his teacher's speech he just can't hold it in anymore, he sets off a loud but harmless explosion in his hand to stop his teacher from continuing and gather everyone's attention.

" _ **Shut up, shut up, shut up, just SHUT up!**_ "

 _ **"you keep talking about him like you know him or something!"**_

 _ **"But none of us knows anything about Izuku, that goes for me too, not one of us has the right to talk about him like we knew him!"**_

 _ **"We had no idea he was going through hell like this, and it cost us cause he isn't fucking here anymore and we didn't do jack shit to stop him, hell I'd say we helped send him off the fucking edge!"**_

Everyone in the room avoids Bakugou's glare as he scans the room (with tears pricking at his eyes) for someone willing to challenge his rant when no-one steps up to his wordless challenge he makes for the door.

"Where are you going, Bakugou?" asks a teacher.

"Outside, I'm done with this pointless shit, you can all keep pretending to care, you'll all forget about him in the span of a few days anyway." he replies with venom in his words as he pulls the door open, _'Just being in there makes me sick to my stomach.'_ he thinks as he slams the door, with a small but loud explosion (likely due to his rampant emotions and lack of focus) punctuating his exit perfectly.

He ventures up the same stairs Izuku took just a day prior, for some fresh air, once he makes it to the roof he's surprised to find Izuku's bag.

 _'Great, this school cares so little about him that they didn't even check if he left anything on the roof he jumped from...'_

Curious, he opens the bag, inside he finds a couple of notebooks, he decides to look through them meticulously, hoping to maybe find some more out about Izuku.

The moment he sets eyes on the front cover of the first notebook he feels physically sick with guilt, the words **"Hero analysis for the future"** _taunt_ him, _blame_ him, make him remember Izuku, his **broken, bloodied, twisted, disfigured shape, the blood pooling under him, the shock, the pain, the disgust, the utter HORROR he felt, and the panic, he felt like he was running through quicksand, and he wasn't going to make it, he didn't make it, Izuku was gone, no traces, not even a body, gone, GONE, G O N E.**

His panic attack is cut short by the school bell which signifies the end of the school day, granted the school day was cut short because of what had happened yesterday, partially to allow the police to make one last sweep of the scene in search of any evidence they hadn't already identified but also to allow people to grieve that being said, no one in school actually knew Izuku beyond him being their quirkless classmate who they bullied.

'He kept writing hero notes even after all that? Guess that nerd wouldn't have given up so easily, he deserved to be a hero more than I ever will' he flips through the hero note pages quickly, not too interested in the information they hold right now, but he stops abruptly about halfway through the notebook.

'Oh, fuck me...' what stopped him, so abruptly, in his tracks was a 2- page spread, on the left a fully fleshed-out, well thought-out, hero costume, which must have taken Izuku hours, if not days, to come up with, and on the right, a blood-curdling reflection of Izuku's suffering.

Messages of "I'm not good enough.", "I'm a monster.", "How could I ever save anyone?", "I'm worthless.", "They're all right.", "I deserve what I'm getting.", "It's all my fault." and other more alarming phrases are scribbled down in scruffy handwriting, sometimes forming spirals that lead into nothing, sometimes overlapping...

Bakugou can imagine a crying, tormented Izuku furiously writing all these thoughts out as he cries silently so that Inko doesn't notice it, the Izuku Bakugou sees in his mind's eye is clearly in agony as he scribbles all this down, trying desperately to not let his voice carry his whimpers outside his own room.

After taking several minutes to calm down after the terrible image, he flips further through the book. It's empty. Up to the last page..."T-This is his-" he chokes on his words "-s-suicide note."

 _To whoever finds this, could you please make sure it finds it's way to my mom, Inko Midoriya, thank you._

 _I'm sorry for doing this to you, but everything just hurt so much more than I could handle, I can't carry on anymore, it's just too much.I'm sorry for not telling you about how hurt I was but I didn't want to burden you with me or have you suffer for me.I'm sorry for never becoming anything, I've always just been the quirkless, weird, quiet kid in class, painfully average to avoid standing out. I've never had any dream but being a hero, an undead dream that lingered for so much longer than it should've, if I gave it up, maybe I wouldn't be doing this to you. Please remember, none of this is your fault. It's not your fault that you didn't know, but mine. It isn't your fault that I did this, it was my choice. I just wasn't made with this kind of society in mind, a quirkless idiot who so desperately wished to be a hero._

 _I love you, Mom, please don't be sad and carry on without me._

 _-Izuku_

 _(Also, please show Kacchan his letter, it's on the back, thank you, Mom.)_

 _Hey Kacchan, this note will probably be pointless, but that doesn't matter, I still think writing it is the right choice._

 _I don't blame you, so you don't blame yourself either, this isn't on you or anyone else, it's on me, it's my fault I was so weak, my fault I couldn't save anyone, including myself._

 _Thank you for being my only friend for most of my life, even if you weren't the greatest friend in our childhood years, you were so much better than nothing. My only regret is never having taken a single step towards becoming a hero in my life, I never did anything to help anyone, I don't think I was very fit to be a hero even if I did have a powerful quirk._

 _Goodbye Kacchan, and good luck in U.A._

 _-Deku_

 _'You stupid nerd, course you were fit to be a hero.'_

 _'But with you gone, I guess I'll have to do.'_

 _'I'll become the greatest hero.'_


	4. Chapter 4 - Blood, Sweat and Tears

**Full chapter name: Sweat (dripping), blood (on my hands) and tears (shed).**

* * *

 _'I'll become the greatest hero.'_

Katsuki Bakugou's promise made to a deceased friend, a promise to live out the dream of that friend. A friend who's flame he was responsible for snuffing out too early.

A promise to act, a promise to try, a promise to better himself.

 _A promise to live by._

 _A promise to keep his guilt and self-hatred at bay._

 _A promise to die for._

Which explains why Katsuki is up at such an ungodly hour. He's currently warming up with a 4-mile jog, deliberately going beyond so he sweats profusely, it's fuel for his quirk after all.

He visited the police station asking for permission/supervision to use his quirk to clean Dagobah beach, Tsukauchi readily agreed to supervise him when he was free (probably due to residual guilt over not being able to even get a lead on Izuku's missing body which all but vanished) they agreed to meet in about an hour, which gives Katsuki time to get to Dagobah beach, get some stretching done and begin moving the trash by hand before his supervisor arrives.

The light 4-mile jog also gave him plenty of time to think about his next steps...He had to get stronger by the entrance exam, he was probably strong enough to pass but that isn't enough he has to excel. He isn't going to just be a student of the hero course, he was going to be the strongest even stronger than those who get in on recommendation. That being said, he isn't going to work only on his physical strength, his quirk and personality need some work if he's going to fulfil his promise to Izuku.

He made use of Izuku's extensive hero notes to identify his flaws, the biggest three being: while he was prominent with hand-to-hand combat he was far from being able to fight quirkless which would be a useful ace up his sleeve, his personality, and the lack of creativity he displays with his quirk right now.

Katsuki's aim is to combat all 3 weaknesses in the time before the exam, he has roughly a year (maybe closer to 10 months) to get it all right, he doesn't expect to become a martial arts master, just be promising enough for people to be surprised that he can fight well without a quirk. The personality problem will need probably the most work considering how short his temper is, while the creativity really just requires some experimentation with his quirk and maybe learning some of the science behind it.

Among all that he hopes to splice in some training to make his quirk generally more powerful and quicker, but that's the least of his worries seeing as the power of his quirk is above average for his age, strong enough to blow the robots at the U.A entrance exam to smithereens.

"Bakugou!" shouted a familiar face to Katsuki as he neared Dagobah Municipal Beach Park, which has once been pristine white sands and sparkling waters but now is little other than rubble and garbage, the way the currents flow around Dagobah beach means that a lot of garbage that had polluted the sea gets washed up on it, people had taken advantage of that to tip their own unwanted items and garbage as no-one would be able to discern which pieces of rubbish were washed up and which had been added by someone.

"Morning Officer Tsukauchi." Katsuki replied sweating but not out of breath.

"You can drop the formalities Bakugou, I'm not on duty besides if we're going to be working closely for the next few months it'll be quicker to just address each other more casually." Tsukauchi's voice was gentle and welcoming, one that naturally inclined you to talk more, which was only enhanced by his friendly smile and the kind aura he emanated. (All things that were desirable to a police officer, not to mention Tsukauchi's quirk "Human Lie Detector" the cocktail composed of the Officer's traits and his quirk is truly a potent combination).

"So should I just address you as Officer or Tsukauchi?"

"Tsukauchi will be just fine. On to the topic of your quirk training, I'll check the heaps first to see which ones will be safe to blow up and which you should try moving by hand."

"Aight" was the only response Tsukauchi got from the now stretching blonde.

 _'He's really determined...well, exercise and training are far from the worst way to vent his guilt so I can't complain for now.'_ Tsukauchi thinks as he slides/skids down the sandy slope toward the garbage heaps below.

 _'I'll need to focus on how flexibly I can use my quirk since I'll need a proper teacher for the quirkless martial arts and plenty of time to fix my rotten personality. I'll look for a person qualified to teach me quirkless fighting over the next month or so,'_ Bakugou planned his next steps as he finished up his stretches and let the Officer do his thing.

"Bakugou! These few heaps over here seem safe enough to just blast away at." Tsukauchi shouted as he pointed at several different heaps "Sorry but the others you'll have to just move by hand."

"That's fine, I'll be practising different applications anyway so I'll be using the quirk on thin air most of the time."

"Remember to only use your quirk when being supervised by me or a colleague I send, alright? I'd rather you don't get in trouble for using your quirk out of line."

"Yeah, yeah I'm not a fucking idiot, I'm not planning to get a quirk offence on my file, no school would try to turn someone like that into a hero!" the blond snapped back.

And so began Katsuki Bakugou's rigorous training, pushing himself to the limits every day in order to grow strong enough to dominate the U.A entrance exam and enter the school as a hero prodigy, the strongest first year.

Wake up, 4-mile jog, practising his quirk, moving trash by hand, learning quirkless combat, reigning in his anger, until finally the day of the exam dawns on him, and his passion and determination burns brighter than his confidence and pride for the first time in his life.

* * *

Author's note: Bit of a shorter chapter, sorry, but writing a whole other 500 or so words just about Bakugou training would've been boring and reading it probably wouldn't have been much better, so I'm just going to do it in an 'extra' chapter packed with some other fun things like

1\. Inko's first response to Izuku's suicide

2\. All Might's reaction to Izuku's suicide

3\. An elaboration of Izuku's final moments as he falls,

well, all 3 things are just possible things I might include if you want to see them or have any other suggestions for this extra chapter please comment them ^^

side note, the extra chapter might not be the next chapter to come out, that really depends, however seeing as this chapter is shorter and I'm publishing it early you can expect the next chapter to have more work/time put into it and maaaaybe an early release on that too.

Thank you all for reading and following the story, I didn't really expect it to get even this big if I'm being honest.


	5. Chap 5- Whatever It Will Take and Beyond

_'Finally, I get to prove I can fulfil that fucking promise.'_

 _'I can't believe the nerd ended up being my reason to be better.'_

 _'In such shitty fucking circumstances too.'_

 _'I'm going to be atoning for this fuck-up for as long as I live...'_

Katsuki thinks as he takes his first steps through U.A's gates following the signs that read "Written Examination Hall This Way."

 _'Time to ace this fucking exam, ain't gonna hold me down.'_

Said exam consisted mainly questions on Heroics as the rest of the subjects (like Math, English and Science) aren't really focused on in the **Heroics** course (Who would've thought, huh.) and Katsuki has been religiously studying this material for the whole of this year so he was confident in his ability to pass it (rightfully so, for once).

The questions were mostly composed of scenarios and were designed to test how realistic the examinee is, but also how effective they'll be as a hero these scenarios ranged from a hostage situation in a bank to natural disasters and rescue operations, testing every aspect of heroics including stealth (which wasn't Katsuki's preferred style, due partly to his rather unstealthy quirk, but he was definitely capable of it, his quirkless martial arts teacher had made sure of that her words ringing in his head even now "When fighting quirkless you have to fight dirty otherwise you'll always be at a disadvantage, go for weak spots, use sneak attacks, the dirtier you fight the harder it is to handle, so exploit your enemy's weakness whenever you can.").

The exam was over before he knew it, he finished it 30 minutes early so he ended up checking through it a few times and just resting in the remaining time, once the bell rang out and the papers got collected he started running to the auditorium where their practical exam will be explained (the sooner he gets sweating the more he'll be able to use his quirk, after all, he's going to take any advantage he can, his first impression has to be perfect.

Seeing as he ran at his full speed he is among the first to arrive and has to wait for the other examinees... Once the auditorium is full however the explanation starts soon enough, the test seems simple enough, destroy villain bots, get points, try to avoid the 0-pointer... Too simple, and it doesn't really test anything but combat...

 _'That's not U.A's style, there's more to this test.'_

 _'Well that doesn't matter right now, I'll just have to do what I think is right and I'll get in no fucking problem.'_

As he thinks this, a huge feral grin finds its place on his face, Katsuki no doubt excited about the prospect of going wild with his quirk.

 _ ***Some time later.***_

 _'Holy shit...'_

 _'I know U.A is all about going Plus Ultra and all that, but what the fuck is this, it's an actual fucking city...'_

Katsuki gawked utterly jaw-dropped, mirroring his fellow examinees, at the size of their examination grounds, the huge walls surrounding it, but also the to-scale buildings beyond the disproportionately large door, it's clear that U.A doesn't pull any punches with its exams...

"Right! Let's start!" A quirk-powered voice booms over them.

 _'No countdown huh? Well, I'm not someone who needs to be told twice.'_

Katsuki launches himself above the other test-takers and starts to propel himself into the suburban area, using their confusion to his advantage, not soon after he enters it 2 robots burst out of opposite buildings, one on the right, one on the left, no doubt hoping to ambush him.

"Stay still and prepare to DIE!"

But Katsuki is quicker than they are, he tucks and rolls beneath the approaching 2-pointer and aims an explosion at the back of its head, he takes it down with a relatively small explosion not seeing the need to use anything more on it, but that isn't it! The 3 point bot is still approaching, much quicker than it's now destroyed predecessor, Katsuki doesn't try anything fancy with it, in case it expects him to use the same move he did on the 2-pointer favouring instead to just blow it up as old-school Katsuki would.

He doesn't stay to admire his work either, he's using his explosions to speed himself along the road, desperate to keep his advantage over the other examinees for as long as possible, he has to go faster, get more points, prove himself...He finds himself in a much wider street with many bots just riding along it, although once they spot him they all turn and start speeding toward him.

 _'Wait, be patient, not yet...'_

 _'Now!'_

Katsuki jumps over the bots in front of him, stopping himself from getting circled and instead clumping them together, exactly what he was hoping for.

"Let's see how you heaps of scrap metal enjoy this!" he shouts with a grin as he braces himself for the explosion he's about to unleash, he can't afford for it to knock him away too far otherwise he might lose whatever lead he's managed to gain.

 **Boom!**

Had Katsuki aimed that explosion toward a building, and not toward an empty section of road, he would probably have taken it down with the robots which are now left as a huge smouldering mess of metal.

 _'Alright, that's about 40 points total including the 5 from earlier, I should try to get some mo-'_

Katsuki's thought process is interrupted by an examinee with unruly purple hair who has found himself between several 3-pointers

 _'Tch, fuck was the extra thinking, biting off more than he can chew?'_

 _'He's not doing shit either, probably can't use his quirk on robots...'_

 _'Well, I best help before he ends up a fucking pancake.'_

Katsuki sends himself rocketing towards his purple-haired damsel in distress.

"Oi, idiot, RUN!" Katsuki shouts, the purple haired boy, in no place to argue, listens to his questionable saviour's words and legs it.

 _'Alright, I can't use that kind of explosion again for a while, unless I want to put myself out of commission, I'll just have to deal with these bots one by one.'_

He takes one bot down as he engages by blowing a hole where its head was, the other 3-pointers soon taking interest in the blond threat.

"Target acquired." a robotic voice droned.

"Ha, fat chance, try me, Scrappy." Katsuki hadn't stopped grinning the whole time he had been fighting, thoroughly enjoying the adrenaline rush the villain-bots were offering him.

He blasted at the bot's legs (wheels? Tough to tell) to immobilise it, and launched himself upward as the bot behind him tried to charge him, the bots collided and exploded, however, this explosion was larger than expected if the tremors he could feel were any indication...

 _'Alright, that's around 50 points.'_

 _'Wait, those tremors aren't from the explosio-'_

 _'Now this isn't even funny anymore...'_

The cause of Katsuki's unamused thoughts, was the 0-pointer crumbling the building it had been hiding in as it came to life, that is to say, the 0-pointer was absolutely massive likely taller than the buildings, and maybe even the walls surrounding the fake city itself.

But he didn't stay surprised for long, he was behind the 0-pointer (where no other examinees could be seen) so avoiding it wouldn't have been a problem, that is if it wasn't faster than the examinees running from it.

 _'Fucking great, I have to stop it or they'll get flattened.'_

 _'Damn it. I gotta use it. But it isn't finished yet.'_

 _'To hell with it, I've got it mostly down anyway, at worst I'll just have to improvise a little...'_

He once again jumps, powered with an explosion, he proceeds to fire explosions off around him with one hand while using the other to remain in the air, the spin from the explosions causing an air funnel to form around him.

 _'Fuck, I won't be able to take it down like this.'_

 _'Guess I'll just have to go above my limit.'_

 _'Well, let's just hope I don't completely take off my fucking arms...'_

And so Katsuki once again powers forward, quicker than before, approaching the zero-pointer at insane speeds.

" **Howitzer Impact!** "

The blond shouts as he unleashes the most powerful explosion he has used in his life, blowing a massive hole through the zero-pointer's torso, punctuated with his own scream of agony as his arm implodes causing damage to his muscles, tendons and bones.

 _ **'MOTHERFUCKER!'**_

 _'I didn't think this through properly, my arm is fucked beyond belief and the fucker is falling forward onto the others...'_

 _'Fuck it, I'm gonna have to bust my other arm too.'_

He promptly rockets through the hole he made in the zero-pointer, turns himself to face it using his explosions, once on the other side he puts both hands up towards the zero-pointer.

" **Ground Zero!** "

His feral shout is interrupted only by the ferocity of his next explosion, easily knocking the previous explosion out of the 'most powerful explosion he has used in his life' bracket, he manages to send the gargantuan hunk of metal falling back the way he had come, away from all the other examinees, of course tearing the robot's head off in the meantime. Not to mention the backlash.

Dislocated arm, several fractures and breaks in both arms, finger bones are practically mush, not to mention he is now rocketing away due to the force of the explosion at speeds that will most definitely be fatal should he hid the concrete road or any buildings around him... Maybe he'd gone a little bit overboard this time.

 _ **'FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!'**_

 _ **'Quick, slow down, Katsuki, you fucking idiot, OW FUCK, my hands are so fucked.'**_

With the aid of thousands, maybe even millions, of micro-explosions Katsuki manages to slow down his approach so that it wouldn't be lethal... He'll only sustain brain trauma and probably irreversible damage to his body... **Shit**.

"THAT'S IT, EXAM'S OVER!"

 _ **'OH THAT'S JUST FUCKING DANDY, AT LEAST I SURVIVED THE MOTHERFUCKING EXAM!'**_

Is the last thought Katsuki has before hitting the ground and splatter- Wait... Why is he floating?

"Phew, we made it, thank you for carrying me." A cheerful but strained female voice said

Bakugou spun around in midair having concluded that he must have been saved by someone's quirk.

"No need to thank me, I only did what was right!" A tall blue haired boy said - _'He looks familiar...' -_ while gesturing wildly.

The odd duo comprised of a tall blue haired boy with engine legs and a cheerful looking brown haired girl was the last thing Bakugou saw as he faded into unconsciousness from the fatigue...

* * *

When Katsuki opens his eyes again he has time to register only white walls, flooring and a white roof, before being enveloped by a wave of pain...must be an infirmary.

"Young Bakugou!" a booming voice, much too loud for the newly-awakened Katsuki, the owner of which is none other than All Might.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE HERO DOING IN U.A'S INFIRMARY?"

"Calm down young man!"

"I am here to make you a proposal based on your exceptional performance in the entrance exam!"

"You are clearly on the path to becoming a great hero, with an iron will and power to back it up, not to mention the heroic spirit that allowed you to push yourself to save your fellow examinees!"

"You are worthy to inherit my power!"

"EH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'INHERIT'? ARE YOU HIGH?"

"Listen, young Bakugou, you need to decide whether or not you wish to inherit my power!"

"My quirk, One For All, is like a sacred torch!"

"Passed on from one person to another, growing in power as it goes, cultivated over each user's lifetime, and next, it is your turn, should you accept it!"

"I want to make you my successor, the next and ninth user of One For All!"

"So how about it, young Bakugou, do you want to inherit my power?"

Author's note:

Some clarification, I'm going to take the Quirk-Personality duality theory as canon, as in your quirk adapts to your personality, therefore, the more controlled and less explosive Bakugou the weaker but more controlled his explosions, which is why his limit was lower than canon at the beginning, although through his heavy training and willingness to damage his body he managed to cause a bigger explosion than what he has used in canon, I'd say it would be like maybe 1.25x-1.5x as strong as the explosion he used to attack All Might in the final exams.

Thank you all for reading, hoped you enjoy, the story is finally picking up a little.

Cya next chapter :3


	6. Chap 6- True Power and Deep, Dark Regret

Author's note: Hope you don't hate me too much for the cliffhanger (and for the long wait for this chapter to give the cliffhanger some time) the action is pretty low considering this is the chapter that fits between the Entrance Exam arc and the USJ arc but I am going to flesh it out as much as I can with character development.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, please leave reviews/comments I read all of them and reply to most (that I can actually reply to in some fashion) whether they are criticisms or praises doesn't matter as both are helpful :3

Also, I'd like to thank a few friends of mine for pushing me to actually share this fic (originally I was just writing it for the sake of writing it, unsure of its quality)  
So thank you both so much, Crow and Lucy, for giving me the confidence to share this, you're both great.  
Love you both :3

Happy Birthday, Lucy, thanks for all the help and praise on this story, it wouldn't be out if not for you.

(Message me whenever you end up reading this :P.)

* * *

At first, Bakugou's only response to All Might's advances is a bottomless sigh until he opens his mouth to talk again, and the words he says send All Might reeling.

"Do I want to inherit it?"

"No."

"If you asked me a year or two ago, I might've accepted, if my bratty self could look past his god complex."

"Why would you deny such power, Bakugou?"

"I have...my reasons."

That pause triggered several different alarms in All Might's mind, he knows how to recognise trauma and old wounds from his many years on the job (not to mention seeing similar things every time he looks in the mirror).

"Would you mind telling me about them young m-"

All Might's sentence is cut short by a stream of blood leaving his mouth as he seemingly deflates, leaving a horrified expression on Bakugou's face, however, All Might speaks before Bakugou has the chance to.

"It's alright young Bakugou, this is normal for me."

"What the fuck do you mean it's normal? How is deflating normal?"

"Hmm." All Might (the name doesn't seem quite right anymore) pauses to think about how to approach this situation. He knew that he'd be running out of time during this conversation, in fact, he came here fully intending to tell Bakugou the whole truth about himself, however, he now realised he could use his circumstances to make Bakugou more comfortable sharing his.

"If I tell you my story, would it perhaps make you more comfortable so as to tell me yours?" All Might (?) said in his now comically oversized hero costume.

"I guess so, but I was going to just tell you anyway."

"Well, I'll still tell you. The truth is, about 6 years ago now I fought a Villain and 'won' but it cost me dearly,-"

 _'6 years ago? was the battle between All Might and Toxic Chainsaw? No, All Might beat him too easily for that to be it.'_ reading through Izuku's notebooks granted him a wealth of information about all the pro heroes and what they have been up to during their career.

"-one of my lungs, the entirety of my stomach and other parts of my digestive system." he lifts his costume's shirt to expose the mesh of scars said injuries had caused him, Bakugou winces at the grim display

"...but most importantly, it crippled me to the point that I can only perform my heroic duties for roughly 2 hours a day, rest of the day this is what I look like...pretty pathetic excuse for the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace."

"Are you an idiot?" All Might recoils at the bold, harsh and unexpected statement, Bakugou had been quiet and meek excluding his outburst when he first saw All Might as he woke up, but he had surprised him so that was understandable.

"The fact that you got injured to that degree in order to win only proves that you're the most fitting man to be the Number One Hero."

"What I'm more worried about is what kind of quirk that villain had to have to hurt you so badly."

"That, young Bakugou, is a topic for another time..." Bakugou's heart rate quickened and he started sweating harder than he should be considering the fact that he's just been lying in bed in anticipation for the next conversation... the pain of all those wounds which he had ignored for so long is returning full force, the guilt, helplessness, powerlessness.

"I'll start with the less complicated reason, I made a promise to someone, someone who isn't...with us anymore, that I would become the greatest hero, and taking your power would be the easiest way, but that's the whole point... it's an easy way out."

"And the more...complicated reason?" All Might said this in an attempt to probe Bakugou for an answer gently, however, if the boy showed an unwillingness to explain the 'complicated answer' he was going to back off immediately.

"I don't deserve it, I'm not worthy."

"Bu-"

"Let me finish!"

All Might just holds up his hands in a 'go ahead' kind of gesture, scared to interrupt young Bakugou, whose head was now pointed downward, towards the white infirmary blanket he was covered with, which means Bakugou didn't see the gesture but the moment of silence accompanying it was enough to clue him in that All Might was not going to interrupt him again.

"I...I..." _'For fuck's sake, all this time and I still can't talk about him properly, I should've expected this, I just spent the year on training, completely ignoring the incident.'_ "I killed a quirkless kid...Indirectly, but it's still my fault."

"And the worst fucking part about it, besides the fact that I bullied him into fucking suicide, is that he was going to achieve his dream, he was going to become a quirkless hero. Japan's first, no, Earth's first quirkless hero, if I didn't clip his fucking wings..."

Teardrops fall on the white blanket below, seeping into it. **_'Just like his blood seeping into the concrete'_**

 _ **'His twisted figure, lying there in a puddle of**_ ** _b̸̻̄l̷̝̅ǫ̶̍o̶̮̿d̸̈́ͅ_** _ **, FUCK EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME THAT'S STILL ALL I SEE WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES, WHAT KIND OF HERO WILL I FUCKING BE IF I COULDN'T EVEN SAVE**_ _ **HIM?'**_

"Bakugou!"

All Might's shout brings him back.

"It's not your fault!"

 **"HOW IS IT FUCKING NOT?"**

 **"I BULLIED HIM FOR YEARS!"**

 **"HE SAW ME AS A FRIEND, I SAW HIM AS NOTHING BUT A FUCKING PEBBLE ON MY PATH!"**

 **"AND I SENT HIM OFF THE FUCKING BUILDING, I MAY AS WELL HAVE PUSHED HIM OFF IT!"**

 **"EVERY TIME I CLOSE MY EYES I SEE HIS BROKEN, TWISTED FIGURE!"**

 **"I CAN'T EVEN SLEEP WITHOUT SEEING HIM!"**

 **"I CAN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT HIM WITHOUT REMEMBERING WHAT I'VE DONE!"**

 **"IZUKU WAS DEPRESSED AND I KNEW IT AND I STILL TORMENTED HIM!"**

 _'Izuku? Izuku Midoriya? No...It can't be.'_

 _'But it isn't a common surname...We-we must be blaming ourselves for the same incident'_

 _'Fate really is a cruel mistress...'_

 **"BAKUGOU!"**

The sudden, loud shout from All Might stops Bakugou dead in his tracks.

"You should stop thinking that way...torturing yourself over it won't help anyone." _'Who would've thought the Symbol of Peace is such a hypocrite...if only the masses could hear me now...'_

"I'll do what I want."

"T-Tell me Young Bakugou...I-Is the boy you were talking about now..."

 _'Keep it together, you've fought villains as big as mountains. Villains who could burn someone to a crisp in an instant. Villians who could take lives without a second thought, you've brushed with death more times than anyone would be able to count, and yet talking about a certain green-haired boy is enough to get you to quiver?  
_

 _ **What kind of hero are you?** '_

"Is his name by any chance **Izuku Midoriya**?" Bakugou raises his head, completely ignoring the fact that tears are currently rolling down his cheeks freely.

"You knew him?"

A nervous, uncharacteristically broken laugh escapes All Might's lips.

"Knew him?"

"More than that..."

"I'm the one who told him he couldn't be a hero without a quirk..."

"Mercilessly too, 'there's no chance for you to become a hero without a quirk', pfft. The Symbol of Peace who crushed a quirkless boy's dreams...sending him to his death.."

"I'm not as great a hero you all think I am..."

Just as All Might finished his sentence, Bakugou broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Wha?" All Might's immense confusion impeded his speech.

"What a fucking coincidence, we both think his death is our fault."

"Whatever, it doesn't fucking matter, I don't need therapy or interrogation from the No.1 Hero, I know what I did."

Bakugou snarls as he gets out of the bed he had been in this whole time, leaving behind sheets sodden with tears.

He leaves the infirmary and just keeps walking, not even bothering to inquire whether or not his injuries had been healed completely.

He exits the building and doesn't look back.

He knows he'll probably get into U.A, but he doesn't believe that he deserves it in the slightest...far from it.

* * *

Thank you all for reading :3

The next chapter will likely be class A's activities and the period before they get accepted.

The chapter after that will probably be dedicated solely to the USJ arc.  
Speaking of the USJ arc...Well..let's just say I think you'll enjoy it ;P

I know I will...

Also, I'm taking some liberties with this, for example, All Might's shortened time limit also I might make All For One stronger or make his character a little different, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it :3.


	7. Chap 7 - Hollow Victories

Note:  
Chapter 8 will be the first few days of U.A. Chapter 9 will definitely be the USJ arc. Bakugou gets to show-off again and the League Of Villains won't know what hit them, let's be honest here do they actually stand a chance against Bakugou and Eraser?

Well, even I don't know that :P

Anyhow, here is chapter 7, the in-between.

* * *

"Heeeeeeeeeey!" a cheerful voice calls after him.

 _'Tch, I don't get to catch a fucking break, do I?'_

The girl who said voice belongs to has brown hair, matching brown eyes and permanently pink cheeks, she was shorter than Katsuki... _'OOOH, she's the girl who saved me in the entrance exam, her and that blue haired guy.'_

Catching up to Katsuki robbed her lungs of any air they had previously held. He let her catch her breath before doing anything (something the old him wouldn't have done).

"Thank you for saving me during the Entrance Exam!" she said, rushing the words out between her gasps for air.

"What?" _'What kind of shitty role reversal is this?'_

"It was you, right? The one who blew up that huge zero-pointer like it was nothing?"

"Hold on, first of all, I dislocated my shoulder, broke my arms in at least 3 different places...My bones were barely being kept together, that's far from nothing, idiot." Katsuki replied slightly out of key, between waking up to All Might, the painkillers, the emotional conversation he'd just had and how tired he was feeling...he was really NOT in the mood for talk. "Second, you saved me too, so no need to thank me, we're even."

"O-Oh...Sorry, I just thought it was only right to thank you," she says, nervously scratching the back of her head "My name is Ochako Uraraka, what's yours?"

"Katsuki Bakugou."

"Now can I PLEASE go home? I'm tired and if the painkillers wear off before I get there I will be absolutely fucked."

"Oh, right, sorry for keeping you." she says as Katsuki begins walking away.

 _'This is so not my style, but, fuck it.'_

Katsuki looks over his shoulder at the girl he had just met.

"Cya in class, round-face."

 _'R-Round face!?'_

She can't help but smile despite the insult/nickname.

Turns out the tough guy wasn't so tough after all. (If only she knew how right she was...)

* * *

Katsuki, on orders from his Mother (as in she forced him to), has refrained from doing any strenuous activity for 2 days following the entrance exam (among visiting Recovery Girl for some extra healing) so as to not aggravate his injuries any further.

After those 2 days however he set out to push himself to his limits once more, however, he didn't bother heading to Dagobah beach seeing as it was already spotless, the fruits of his 10-month training plan.

Instead, he decided to attend some more martial arts classes and some quirk-furthering sessions in hopes of learning something new, while he had become quite prominent in quirkless combat, he hasn't learned any actual martial arts styles which means basically means he has only just started walking, now it was time for him to learn how to run.

And so Katsuki visited many different teachers, but he was left unsatisfied...None of them were as great as his master, too bad she didn't teach anything but basic quirkless combat. Thus Katsuki spent a whole week (while waiting for his U.A acceptance letter) trialling different combat styles and teachers, unfortunately, none of them felt quite right and the teachers left much to be desired following the rigorous (and, admittedly, great) training he had been put under during his 1 year (approximately) of preparation before U.A.

He'd have to look for a martial arts instructor while studying at U.A.

"OI, KATSUKI YOU BUM!"

 _'Oh fucking great...'_

"YEAH, WHAT D'YOU WANT YOU HAG?"

"THERE'S A LETTER FOR YA, GET DOWN HERE AND GET IT YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

 _'Oh? Maybe it's from U.A?'_

His trek downstairs is slow. He's spent the whole day running around town hopping from dojo to dojo in an attempt to find someone who would manage to teach him something in any reasonable amount of time to no avail.

Once he manages to get down the stairs he walks into the living room to retrieve the letter from his mother.

"Here you go Katsuki." she says while handing him the letter, with a huge smile on her face (which is unusual for her, to say the least).

"Regardless of what the letter says, I'm proud of you Katsuki." she says as she sweeps him into a hug against which he is left squirming.

"Fine, you don't need to get so touchy-feely."

"Well, I don't need to, I want to and I think you need it after all this."

At those words he stiffens a little.

"Hit the nail on the head?"

"You still blame yourself, don't you?"

He replies with silence.

A sad smile creeps its way onto her face, one Katsuki doesn't see from his position.

"Y'know, despite the way we act towards each other, I'm still your mother. You can talk to me, or ask for help."

"You don't have to deal with all of this by yourself..."

"Anyway, a single lecture won't be enough for you to start feeling better about yourself, so I'll leave it there, go ahead and open your letter."

She expected Katsuki to go up and open it in the privacy of his own room, but instead, he rips it open where he stands.

A solid metal disc falls out onto the floor. It begins to emit light, shapeless at first, but then it sharpens and focuses.

A hologram.

A lifesize hologram of All Might in a yellow suit, standing in front of a screen.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"

 _'Huh, guess he's part of the U.A faculty now...Can't say I'm surprised, why else would he have been in the infirmary that day.'_

"I guess an explanation is due-"

 _'No, it really isn't, please carry on with the_ letter- _'_

"-truth is, I came to Musutafu to teach at U.A."

 _'-you don't say...'_

"But enough of that, you must be eager to receive your results!"

"So let's begin with the written exam results!"

* * *

1st - Shinsou Hitoshi

2nd - Momo Yaoyorozu

3rd- Iida Tenya

4th - Katsuki Bakugou

5th - Monoma Neito

6th - Juzo Honenuki

7th - Kai Shirai

8th - Setsuna Tokage

9th - Shihai Kuroiro

10th - Itsuka Kendo

* * *

The screen behind All Might comes to life, on it are names of the top 10 scorers for the Entrance Exam of which Katsuki appears to be 4th.

 _'Hold on, Iida? That's Ingenium's surname, they might be related...'_

"TREMENDOUS RESULTS!"

"YOU ARE NOT ONLY A STRONG BUT ALSO AN INTELLIGENT YOUNG HERO!"

"NOW, ONTO THE PRACTICAL EXAM!"

"But, before I show you the score, how about we have a look at a replay of what you did, and the audio from the judges who saw it all unfold!"

[Video of the Zero-Pointer emerging, showcasing both Katsuki's (beta) Howitzer Impact and Ground Zero]

"SERIOUSLY, HIS EXPLOSION WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO BLOW IT BACK?" Present Mic shouted

"It's been ages since someone could do that kind of damage to it..." A shocked female could be heard, _'Sounds like Midnight'_.

"And he thought through his actions very carefully. He was hesitant to jump in until he noticed that the Examinees would get caught by it. After he launched his first attack the Zero-pointer was already unfunctional. The fact that he used a second explosion shows that he realised this and used it solely to keep the others out of harm's way. He also minimised the damage to buildings by aiming the explosion through the main street..." an inhuman voice could be heard, someone intelligent enough to digest that situation in such a short time... _'Must be the principal and his High Specs.'_

"Let's begin grading for Rescue Points."

"HE DESERVES 80, HE DECIMATED HIS LIMITS AND SACRIFICED HIMSELF TO SAVE ALL THE EXAMINEES, LIKE A TRUE HERO!" an excited Present Mic yells, _again_.

"He could've injured some examinees with shrapnel from his first special move," a tired man says "dock him 10 for that."

"On top of that, his second explosion could've injured the 5 examinees who were behind the zero-pointer, in some alleyways. Dock 2 Rescue Points per person, another 10, a total of 60."

"And, let's not forget. A hero should be able to save themselves, which he wasn't able to do, but he did try to cushion himself with those micro-explosions and he did get saved by that other examinee...Taking that into account I think we should dock him 10 points, for a total of 50 Rescue Points."

"Very well," the strange voice said again, presumably the principal "Are you sure, Aizawa?"

"Yeah, I think he deserves a decent amount of rescue points, but 80 for such a dangerous manoeuvre is overkill." the tired man, whose name is Aizawa, responds.

"I'm willing to give him 50, which is probably harsher than I'd usually go, but this kid is promising, he'll probably end up in 1-A even without the extra points."

"Okay, anyone has anything to add?"

"I do, if you don't mind, Mister Principal." All Might says

"By all means, go ahead, you're Number 1 after all, your insight is crucial to the analysis."

"I'd like to give him some extra points for his immediate response, he started moving toward the zero-pointer before even realising that it would injure the other examinees."

"Would 5 be too much to ask?"

"5 points? No, that's fine." Aizawa says.

"Okay!" the principal says, quite chipper and excited.

"Final verdict, 55 Rescue Points!"

The screen, which was playing Bakugou's fight on loop as the audio played, flickers off.

"SO THERE YOU HAVE IT YOUNG BAKUGOU!"

The screen switches back on, displaying the top 10 scores for the practical exam.

"FIRST PLACE IN THE EXAM, WITH A GRAND TOTAL OF 106 POINTS! 51 VILLAIN POINTS AND 55 RESCUE POINTS!"

"SO COME, YOUNG BAKUGOU, THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!" All Might says as he reaches his hand outward.

Tears. His. And his mother's. Falling as the hologram fades back into a cacophony of colours and then into nothingness.

"Katsuki...You did it." his mom hugged him again, if she was out of character before, it's tough to describe what she is now. "I'm so proud of you!"

He just stood there in his mom's arms, dazed. _'Woah, I...I guess I... I might be able to do it...'_

 _'No, don't get ahead of yourself **m̷̼͒ŭ̸͖ṟ̷̌d̶͙̍ë̴̪r̵͇̿e̴̬̎r̷̺̄'**_

 _ **'You haven't proven anything yet... Sure you can fight robots but how does that change ANYTHING that you've done?.'**_

 ** _'I̷t̸ ̷d̶o̴e̷s̷n̷'̷t̸'_**

"Katsuki." his mom is cradling his face in her hands, holding him at about arm's length, looking him directly in the eyes, those lifeless ruby eyes which used to burn so brightly before. "You can be a hero. No, you will be a hero."

 **"I believe in you."**

 **"Even if you don't believe in yourself."**

 **"You're already a hero, Katsuki."**

 _ **'No, I'm not...You don't know what I've done.'**_

 _ **'I bullied Izuku.'**_

 _ **'I ridiculed Izuku.'**_

 _ **'I bruised Izuku.'**_

 _ **'I burned Izuku.'**_

 _ **'I scarred Izuku.'**_

 _ **'I killed Izuku.'**_

 _ **'He...He'll never come back'**_

 _ **'He's** **g̢̉͗̒͌͐̃ͦ̏̈ͦ̓̐̅́͝ o̵̢̍ͫ̇ͮͣ͌ͬ̔ͥ͟ nͣ̒́̋̾̎͑͛̓͐̓̑ͪ̌̑͏̷ e̶̔̐ͦͯ̈ͣͫ̾̾͋̂ͯͩ͆͢͞͡.'**_

 _ **'I'm no hero, I'm just a monster.'**_

The tears that were now freely flowing down his face went unnoticed by his mom, or maybe she misinterpreted them as tears of joy...they weren't...It'll be a long time before he could be happy again...If he will ever regain the ability to be happy that is.

* * *

Note: AAAAA, it ran over agaaaaain ;-;.

I promise the next chapter will be the last before the USJ, if not including the beginning of the USJ arc.

Thank you all for reading :3

Please comment any thoughts or criticisms you may have, or any questions you want answered (although I won't be able to answer all/many of those :P)


	8. Chap 8 - Abyssal Gaze, Abysmal Glow

Today's the day.

The first day of high school.

And Bakugou, who got into his dream school, should be ecstatic.

Any normal person would be.

But Bakugou was damaged.

He blamed himself for a lot, and it's progressively gotten worse.

It isn't so bad today.

If only because he doesn't feel much today.

Or think much today.

Running on auto-pilot.

Dissociating.

He goes through the quirk aptitude exam.

Some written tests/exams their teachers set them to gauge their abilities.

Hero training.

All of his lessons.

In a state of half-consciousness at best.

For a week straight, nothing.

Despite the fact he was clearly top of the class, even if that Todoroki kid was second he was pretty far behind, in both heroics and general studies.

Despite the fact everyone in the class realised just how strong he was.

The fact that no teachers treated him as fragile or damaged despite his background and how refreshing that felt.

He just...drifted through the first week of U.A.

He fully expected to drift through the trip to the USJ too.

Until a purple gate opened behind their teachers, in the central plaza of the complex.

And all of him screamed _" **DANGER!"**_.

So he jumped down the staircase and propelled himself towards the villains pouring out of the warp gate using his explosions.

He could hear Eraserhead shout his name before turning to Thirteen and telling them to take care of the other students.

After which he followed Bakugou to engage the villains.

Three villains run up to the front of the group.

 _'Ranged quirks, probably.'_

 _'Too bad I can do range better than them.'_

Bakugou fires off two explosions at them simultaneously, taking all three of the unprepared villains down.

 _'They have no idea what my quirk is...well, had no idea.'_

 _'They probably don't know any of the other student's quirks either.'_

 _'Idiots, attacking U.A without doing any proper scouting.'_

 _'Their loss, small fry like this wouldn't manage to get past any of my classmates.'_

 _'Hell, even those in the general course with no proper training would be able to beat them.'_

Bakugou looks to the villains pooling from the gate, four stand out from the rest.

One with many hands hanging off him, blueish-greyish hair and a lanky form.

One wreathed in the same purple-black vortex the villains arrived in.

 _'It must be his quirk... probably warping, maybe teleportation.'_

One who looked more monstrous than anything Bakugou had ever seen before.

Its brain in full view, its skin an unnatural pitch-black, massive muscles all over and something akin to a beak on its head.

The fourth was probably the least unique and Bakugou would've missed him if not for the fact that he kept back with the other three, waiting for something. Not rushing in like the other villains.

His appearance (or at least Bakugou thought it was a he, their body build seemed like that of a young man than a girl or a woman) wasn't anything special for the most part, a black unzipped hoodie from under which you could see some smarter clothing, a proper red shirt and a black waistcoat which matched his black, untamed curls.

The only defining feature is the mask he wears.

A purple base, with a thin, straight red line for an unnerving mouth and a black lightning bolt over one eye.

His eyes could be seen behind the mask.

Glowing red, likely due to his quirk or a side-effect of it.

Bakugou's observance was cut short by the villains encroaching on him.

They weren't much of a threat but Bakugou wouldn't sacrifice the chance of making some kind of rookie mistake while fighting small fry like this just to observe and analyse the villains for a little longer.

Analysis wasn't his speciality anyway... if anyone would be able to analyse everything about these villains the moment he saw them it'd be Izuku.

 _'Pfft.'_

 _'You don't get to think like that, idiot.'_

 _'It's your fault he's gone'_

 _'Everyone, everything would be so much better off if it was **you** gone and not him.'_

 _'No, not right now.'_

 _'You have to focus.'_

But it wasn't that easy, for some reason Bakugou was feeling worse than he was before...

Worse than he's been for a long time...

He tried drowning it out as well as he could to focus on the fight at hand but he was finding it increasingly tough to do so.

* * *

The masked villain follows Bakugou's every move.

Observing.

Analysing.

Calculating.

The blue-haired villain next to him just observes him as he does so.

"Oi Flux," the masked villain turns toward him "he the one?"

A curt nod follows.

"You can fight him if you want." The blue-haired villain says.

The masked villain shakes his head and leans toward the taller villain.

"Not yet?"

"You're gonna wait until he thins out some of the fodder?"

Another nod.

"Makes sense," the taller villain, Shigaraki, says "it would be tough to fight with all of them in the way."

"And waiting means they'll be more tired, weaker."

 **"Easier to kill."**

The smaller villain nods again.

* * *

 _'Pfft, idiot.'_

 _'Waiting is the worst thing you could be doing when fighting me.'_

 _'Eraser might not be doing so well in a few minutes time though...'_

 _'Whatever.'_

 _'Just means I have to speed up.'_

Bakugou starts to take down villains slightly quicker.

Not enough to make stupid mistakes but enough that it counts.

He established a rhythm, practically dancing across the battlefield, just as Aizawa was doing.

Except Aizawa's 'dance' was a lot more graceful and a lot less explosive.

They both took down villain after villain until none but the main four remained.

Well... three.

The warping villain disappeared somewhere sometime during their prolonged fight with the villains.

 _'Where did the warping bastard disappear t-'_

Bakugou's thought was cut short as the masked villain charged him.

Swinging punches at him one after another not giving him a chance to use his quirk.

 _'Damnit!'_

 _'This fucker had time to analyse me!'_

 _'Well, if he wants me to stop using my quirk that's fine!'_

Bakugou blocks and retaliates, flipping the villain up and over his shoulder, except the villain was somehow able to land on their feet.

Likely due to their quick thinking.

Both individuals are now fighting hand-to-hand without using their quirks.

Going back and forth, fighting on equal ground.

 _'Fuck!'_

 _'He's better than I expected, I won't be able to beat him without using my quirk.'_

So when Bakugou strikes again he combines it with an explosion.

It catches the masked villain, Flux, off-guard but doesn't do much damage.

Only some charring on his hoodie.

The villain jumps back and makes a big show off patting himself clean.

Bakugou takes the moment to strategise and catch his breath.

 _'Alright, I gotta beat this fuck and help Aizawa.'_

 _'He ain't good with prolonged fights.'_

 _'This guy should be easy to beat, his quirk probably isn't combativ-'_

The sound of lightning arcing brings Katsuki back to the present.

 _'Or maybe it is.'_

Black lightning arcs off the masked villain's form, a purple glow tracing his silhouette.

And he charges at Bakugou twice as fast as he had before.

 _'Shit, I have to stop messing around.'_

"Stun grenade!"

A blight glow emanates from between Bakugou's clasped hands blinding the masked villain.

Bakugou follows the attack with a series of explosions.

The masked villain doesn't manage to avoid the explosions completely but he does manoeuvre in a way that lowers the damage those explosions do.

Bakugou's opponent clearly isn't new to fighting, his movements too trained and precise to be the work of luck.

Bakugou's explosions were precisely made in a way that limited the amount of smoke made so as to not blind himself but due to the pressure, he had forgotten to account for the dust his explosions had kicked up.

 _'How could I make such a stupid fucking rookie mistake?'_

He was stranded in a cloud of dust too thick to look through, his only company the sounds of the clash between the hand villain and his teacher.

A few beats pass.

 **Nothing.**

Until, all too fast, a hand reaches for him from the dust, he manages to jump back but due to the heat of the battle his locket had freed itself from the confines of his shirt.

The villain's hand grasps where Bakugou's neck had been, catching nothing but pulling the locket free from the blond's neck.

It clatters to the ground.

Thankfully not broken...

Although...

It has survived worse so maybe that wasn't such a surprise...

Bakugou uses a strong explosion to push away the dust in the air and sees the villain leaning down to pick it up.

Pick the locket up.

Izuku's locket.

The only thing that remained.

 **That was not happening.**

 **Bakugou would sooner pry it from the masked villain's cold, lifeless fingers than have it be taken**.

* * *

His quirk was hell.

Every second of his life tormented by its presence.

Heavy chains binding his mind.

It felt as though he were locked in his mind watching his life play out like a movie.

Any feelings other than hatred, anger or fear snuffed out like a candle.

His emotions were intensified.

But the hatred stamped everything else out.

No matter how evil his actions the hatred always pushed him further.

Further from his dream of being a hero.

The greatest hero.

Stronger and better than All Might.

A shattered dream

Made impossible by society's chains but also the chains of his quirk

The quirk forced on him by a supervillain.

All Might's arch nemesis.

But the locket.

Seeing the locket again.

His consciousness returned slightly.

He was in control again.

And it was exhilarating.

* * *

The villain picked up the locket and turned toward the fountain where the blue-haired and the warping villain were stood.

'Aizawa must have lost.' passes through Bakugou's mind quickly a simple, unconscious realisation.

The warping villain opens a gate.

And Bakugou rockets forward.

Propelling himself forward with his explosions.

 **"GIVE ME BACK THE LOCKET YOU BASTARD!"**

 **"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"**

 _'I won't make it.'_

 _'The locket.'_

 _'All that's left of Izuku.'_

 _'Gone.'_

 _'Just like that.'_

But the villain stops in front of the gate.

Raises a hand to his mask in a fluid motion and takes it off.

He turns his gaze toward Bakugou.

Eyes no longer red.

But an emerald green.

And Bakugou lets himself fall from the air and skid to a stop on his knees.

Defeated.

On the brink of tears.

His face completely blank.

The villain wears a Cheshire cat grin.

A _crazed_ Cheshire cat grin.

And utters a single sentence.

Two words.

That send Bakugou's world tumbling down.

Collapsing on top of him.

His lungs emptied.

Tears flowing.

Mind aching.

Forever.

 **"Goodbye Kacchan."**

The gate closes.

And Bakugou is left staring blankly at where it had been mere seconds ago.

Static tearing through his head.

* * *

Shorter chapter but I intended to leave it on a punch and "Goodbye Kacchan." was too good of an ending to pass up.

Sorry for the massive wait but my work ethic is kinda random so I might jump from one thing to another rapidly or somehow manage to write 7 chapters straight of something.

I can't predict or prevent this however so I hope it's not too much of an issue.


	9. Static, Secrets and Strings (attached)C9

This chapter is being done as my stand-in while I try to finish writing the first chapter of my new idea down (it's already my minimum chapter length of ~2k words but I want to beef it up a little more).

The 'Masked Villains' quirk and identity will be revealed (not like it needs to be for you guys, considering how obvious it was, but it will be stated clearly and outwardly).

The masked villain's quirk does mess with his emotions slightly but there's more to it, clearly, considering its somehow strength enhancing... Or maybe something else?

Anyway, the next chapters will cover (including this chapter, dunno how much I'll get through tho):

The rest of USJ (Nomu, All Might etc) - definitely this chapter

USJ fallout including Bakugou having a much-needed talk with Inko - also definitely this chapter (might reveal some stuff I had planned for a while, finally)

The Masked Villain's story - may be split across two chapters but at least some parts of it will be revealed in this chapter

'Flashback' to the first week or so of U.A through another 1-A student's eyes - likely next chapter or the one after that

Thank you all for sticking with me all this time, I hope I don't disappoint.

* * *

The static was overwhelming. Washing over Bakugou drowning out almost everything, including his thoughts...

But something rang louder than the static. Some stray thoughts. Realisations.

 _' **Deku.** '_

 _'Impossible.'_

 _'I saw him **broken**.'_

 _'He was **d e a d**.'_

And then even those thoughts sunk below the horizon of static, which grew louder and louder threatening to deafen Bakugou _**'stopstopstopstopstopstop'**_

And then it did.

Sudden clarity.

And he saw Izuku in front of him again, on the ground, **broken** and bruised. Limbs bent at horrifying angles.

Bakugou knew the scene well, it appeared to him every time he closed his eyes for any longer than it took to blink. Whenever he tried to rest these nightmares would prey on him.

 _'It's fine.'_

It wasn't

 _'I've seen this so many times before.'_

He has.

 _'I can hold myself together.'_

But he couldn't.

 _'This is the same as always.'_

But it isn't, those were nightmares... This was a hallucination.

And that wasn't all that changed.

Slowly Izuku's body started to twitch and turn until it somehow stood up, limbs twisted, blood pouring and eyes glazed.

 **"You killed me, Kacchan."**

 **"And you didn't even bother to check if I was actually alive."**

 **"You gave up on me."**

 **"Despite the fact that the police had been searching all this time."**

 **"Detective Tsukauchi never managed to find me, did he?"**

 **"And neither did you."**

 **"Despite all the obsessive glances towards dark alleyways, compulsively exploring obscure areas at obscure times hoping beyond hope that you'd find me."**

 **"Well, guess what, Kacchan?"**

 **"I FOUND YOU!"**

Izuku's form morphed. From his corpse-like appearance and school uniform to the shirt, blazer and hoodie he had been wearing as the masked villain, his eyes glowing red. His face covered in grizzly scars and disfigurement, stitch marks all over.

 **"You made me what I am, Kacchan."**

 **"A villain."**

His eyes oozed tears of blood while Bakugou cried with a wayward look in his eyes like he was staring into some other dimension or universe. Far from the horrors still going on at the USJ, the fight that had broken out between Nomu and All Might.

When had All Might gotten here?

He didn't know, he couldn't hear, all of his mind filled with the haunting images and Izuku's harrowing voice.

 **"Goodbye, Kacchan."**

Echoed the hallucination as Bakugou fell on his side. Unconsciousness enveloping him, with a sudden calm. Something he hasn't had for almost a year now...

 _'It's almost been a year since he disappeared.'_

Is the last, stray thought that passes through Bakugou's mind as the boy is truly taken to the void.

* * *

Punch after punch powered with one of the strongest quirks in existence is still not enough to bring the Nomu down. A natural counter to All Might's brute force strategy, but if there's one thing Toshinori is, it's stubborn (to the point of being reckless) so he goes beyond his limit. Pushing and pushing his boundaries.

 _'Plus ultra.'_ playing on repeat in his head, a mantra to keep himself from breaking or yielding until he renders the Nomu unconscious, dead, anything. As long as the rest are safe.

Faster and faster. Punches flying from both of them, too fast for the eye to see. Trying to force the Nomu into submission.

 _'What is his quirk?'_

 _'How can he handle this much of One For All's power?'_

Little did he know the Nomu had two quirks and was genetically engineered to be super strong.

All Might's chances were looking grim, he started doubting himself. Thinking that he was too far from his prime to win. He was going to lose. The villains were going to win. All Might would **die** in the USJ to a monster.

And then, on a whim; a last-ditch effort, he forced all of One For All's power into one arm hyper-concentrating the power with no regard to the damage releasing it could cause him.

And lets the punch fly, forcing his fist as deep into the Nomu's stomach as he could. In the blink of an eye, the Nomu was sent rocketing through the glass dome and far into the sky. Following the punch, his arm is thrown backwards by the wind pressure which causes All Might to hiss in pain due to the many fractures, breaks and other injuries he must've caused himself using such a focused punch. Not to mention the dislocated arm. Oh well, at least the students were s-

 **"Young Bakugou?"**

All Might dashed forward just as Bakugou had started falling onto his side, unconscious. His mind darted as he rushed up to catch Bakugou with his uninjured arm. _'Injury? Shock? Blood loss?'_

His mind halted as he looked down at Bakugou and noticed the tear marks on his cheeks, his mind going blank as he did so. He had only one explanation for this. But confirming that suspicion would require a much less unconscious Bakugou.

* * *

Bakugou awoke slowly and was told by some paramedics who were doting over him that his questioning was postponed until further notice due to the shock he had experienced to which he managed to respond with a weak nod. Some time past - he wasn't aware so he couldn't tell how long it was - and he was being whisked home by his mother.

"Mom."

"Yeah?"

"Could we go to Auntie's house?"

She turned to her son, a look of worry and confusion on her face. But she pressed the issue no further, seeing somewhere in Bakugou's eyes that he needed this.

"Alright," she threw her phone in Bakugou's lap "text her and ask her if we can come over."

Bakugou does as he's told, the shock and static still haunting him and sapping all of his energy.

As could be expected of Inko, who was as unconditionally kind as her son, she replied with quickly with 'Of course you can, I heard what happened to you, Katsuki. I hope you're okay.'

She used his first name when the family came over to prevent any confusion over which Bakugou she had been referring to, the habit seems to have carried over to text.

"She says it's fine."

"Mhm, well. We'll be there soon, try to rest a little if you can."

He opts out of sleeping and instead decides to rest his head on the window of the car his school blazer, bunched up, placed between his head and the window to act as a pillow. He spent the rest of the ride quiet and contemplating, his world shifting again albeit for much more different reasons than the previous times.

Izuku was alive.

A villain, but alive.

Not much of an upgrade, but it was a lot less final.

And it was still Bakugou's fault.

"Oi, Katsuki."

He turns toward his mother's voice.

"We're here, let's go."

They go into the apartment block and are intercepted at the door by Inko who had decided to meet them there. As they walk up Mitsuki explains the suddenness of her son's request to come here, and tries to convey the urgency behind it while Bakugou just stares straight ahead with that thousand-yard stare of his, his eyes are glossy.

Once they enter the apartment, take off their shoes and sit down in the living room Bakugou speaks abruptly.

"Izuku is alive," both women have looks of pure, unadulterated, surprise but Bakugou continues before he can be interrupted "He was part of the attack force on the USJ."

"I fought him, he was holding back...He could've killed me if he wanted to."

To both Bakugous surprise, Inko doesn't cry from sadness or joy. She does look conflicted. Likely due to the contrasting emotions pent up inside of her but she attempts to speak too.

"I-I-I haven't told you everything, Katsuki. Mitsuki knows, but I didn't want to tell you until you were older."

"Izuku's locket, the one you carry. It's an old hero's emblem, a hero who passed on. Hisashi Midoriya, Izuku's dad."

"His hero name was Spirit Flare," Bakugou's already surprised look is now dusted with recognition at the name of a popular, enigmatic pro "He passed his real quirk off as fire breathing to give himself an edge despite being in the spotlight collaborating with heroes like All Might and Endeavour who brought him a lot of fame and attention."

"His real quirk was Zeal, he gathered and stored energy from his emotions. He could use the energy however he wanted to fight, he mostly used it as fire breath to avoid blowing his cover."

"I-I had my suspicions that Izuku may have inherited some variation of my late husband's quirk despite the missing bone."

"I-If he used a quirk on you that suspicion is c-confirmed."

Katsuki nods.

At that point, Inko can't hold back the flood of tears any longer. "I-I-I can't imagine what my baby must have gone through, with those horrible people around him..."

* * *

PAIN.

PAINPAIN _._

 _ **PAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAIN.**_

 **White hot, radiating, terrible, eternal, constant PAIN.**

Just when he thinks it's over it comes back again, he registers himself screaming but can't hear it past the **pain**.

He can hear vague hints of people speaking around him, someone reassuring him that he'd be okay soon, maybe? Or he could be hallucinating from blood loss or something.

The pain suddenly kicks up another notch, something Izuku thought would be impossible considering the **agony** he was already in but apparently he had been mistaken.

But just as suddenly as the new pain started it disappeared.

"Better now?"

The voice was now clear as day, deep and booming.

Izuku turns onto his back and looks up to see a man in a black, crisp suit and an equally black mask.

Izuku's mind is sluggish so it takes him a few seconds to detect the strange almost threatening feeling the man gives off.

"D-Did you...save me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because someone with such potential killing themselves didn't sit right with me.

I can give you a purpose, young man. Young Izuku."

Strangely enough despite the man's tone, demeanour and words that last line still managed to remind Izuku of All Might. The direct opposite to the man shrouded in darkness that stood in front of him.

"What kind of purpose?"

"One that lets you get back at society for beating you down so mercilessly. I will make you more powerful than you've ever been. I will give you a quirk and I will mould you to be a perfect villain."

 _'A quirk...'_

 _'I-I could...get a quirk.'_

 _'Maybe I could become a hero?'_

 _'Maybe the power he'll give me will be enough.'_

 _'Maybe I could still do good despite the mess I'm in?'_

Izuku would grow to look back on these thoughts and mourn his naive old self who still held onto that tiny flicker of hope that a monster like him could actually become a hero.

Pathetic.

He was nothing but a villain, Shigaraki's marionette. Who in turn was All For One's puppet.

A villain that thieved, mugged, killed, maimed, injured. No better than any other members of the 'League of Villains' he had joined. But he still managed to keep a single part of himself completely intact.

The will to help and save.

And right now saving or helping people, means getting the league's trust and 'becoming' a villain. One they trust so that he can cut the strings attached to him and start puppeteering some of the league's actions himself, limiting the damage they can do while still making himself out to be a villain and not a traitor.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed reading that, I came up with it in one writing session .

My other project (abbreviated 'TP') will likely surface some time soon, I'm excited since this is more original than I've ever gotten. In TP, Izuku's quirk will be an emitter/transformation hybrid, depending on... circumstances. It'll also be really versatile so I'll have a lot of freedom.

I hope you enjoy that too if you decide to read it.

Thank you for following me and reading the stuff I write.


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